Beyond Flesh [Paperback]

Jack Dann (Author), Gardner Dozois (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

These cutting-edge techno-tales by Poul Anderson, Greg Egan, Michael Swanwick, and other masters explore the infinite ways that new technology will free humankind from the boundaries of the flesh.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ace (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441009999
• ISBN-13: 978-0441009992
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,614,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Feels Incomplete (3.5 stars), April 14, 2007

By 

AMH (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beyond Flesh (Paperback)

As the preface to this anthology points out, there are myriad ways that humans have gone or could go beyond the limitations of the body. A story about leaving Earth in a rocket or one about talking to someone who is beyond the reach of your voice, are two examples. Really, the theme is about marvelous technology. A big theme I grant, which would need to be narrowed for an anthology, but I think the editors have narrowed it a little too much. The stories in this anthology "show you what it might be like when human consciousness is no longer restricted to the prison of the flesh." Three of the stories deal with humans exploring an inhospitable environment remotely; two take place in a future where the mind can be uploaded and continue living in a digital world (in both cases the story is told from the point of view of someone who has NOT uploaded); several other stories are about the mind leaving the body and residing in a robot, a tiny spaceship (to explore a black hole), and in a nano-world (I think). My feeling is that there could have been more variety of stories, but on the whole it's an interesting group.

Here are the stories. My favorite are the first two, which best succeed at describing the technology involved and the experience of going beyond flesh.

"Call Me Joe", Poul Anderson (1957)
"Learning To Be Me", Greg Egan (1990)
"Pretty Boy Crossover", Pat Cadigan (1986)
"Ancient Engines", Michael Swanwick (1998)
"Winemaster", Robert Reed (1999)
"More Adventures On Other Planets", Michael Cassutt (2001)
"Nevermore", Ian R. MacLeod (1997)
"Approaching Perimelasma", Geoffrey A. Landis (1998)
"The Gravity Mine", Stephen Baxter (2000)
"Reef", Paul J. McAuley (2000)

0 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call Me Ecstatic!, December 16, 2002

By 

Stephen Nagy "Steve Nagy" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Flesh (Paperback)

I don't have this anthology yet, but I'm going to buy it as soon as I break for lunch and can get out to the bookstore. The inclusion of "Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson is enough reason to pick it up. I consider it a classic. Written in 1957, it's as relevant and as farseeing as any story written today.